Long Island Medicaid attorneys can help seniors to ensure that they are able to obtain access to Medicaid benefits if they need to rely upon these benefits to cover important healthcare costs. Many people think Medicare will cover everything they need when they get older and so they do not make plans to ensure they can become eligible for Medicaid. This is a big mistake because Medicaid can be more comprehensive than Medicare in many ways and can also help subsidize Medicare costs for certain eligible seniors. 
Medicaid is, in fact, so important to seniors that there are millions of seniors receiving benefits through this government program. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services indicates there are 8.3 million people with “dual eligibility,” which means they can get both Medicaid and Medicare coverage. While this includes some people receiving Medicare because they have disability benefits, it also includes millions of senior citizens 65 and over who need Medicaid to cover what Medicare doesn’t.
If you don’t have a Medicaid plan and you need Medicaid to cover you, you could end up having to spend your wealth and losing the chance to leave a legacy, which you don’t want to occur. You should take steps today to protect your hard-earned assets by ensuring you can get Medicaid if you need it. Contact Long Island Medicaid attorneys at Mark S. Eghrari & Associates, PLLC to find out more.
Why is Medicaid so Important to Seniors?
Center for Retirement Research recently summarized all of the key reasons that Medicaid is so important to senior citizens in the United States. Some of the reasons Medicaid is important include the following:
- Medicaid can help subsidize Medicare Premiums and can cover coinsurance costs and drug costs: Medicare Part has premiums that senior have to pay and has 20% coinsurance costs. Seniors who are on Medicare also have to cover a lot of the costs associated with prescription medications. This can be unaffordable. For seniors with low income, Medicaid can help. Medicaid may subsidize Medicare premiums, coinsurance costs and drug costs or may simply subsidize premiums depending upon your household income level. This can be a welcome relief to seniors who can’t afford all of Medicare’s expenses.
- Medicaid can cover nursing home care costs: As Center for Retirement Research explained, Medicare virtually never covers the costs of nursing home care. However, Medicaid does. Medicaid is the primary payor of long-term care services for both seniors in nursing homes and for seniors who receive long-term care at home. Medicaid is usually the only source of coverage for nursing home care available because long-term care insurance premiums become too costly for older seniors and because these long-term care policies often don’t actually cover what you need to. If you cannot get Medicaid and long-term care becomes necessary, this could quickly bankrupt you — especially since average nursing home care costs nationwide are more than $80,000 according to Center for Retirement Research.
Unfortunately, Medicaid is means-tested, which means if you have too many assets, you aren’t going to be able to take advantage of important benefits that you need and that Medicaid could provide you. You don’t want to lose your life savings because you can’t get Medicaid, and the good news is that you shouldn’t have to if you can work with an experienced attorney to make a Medicaid plan. Mark S. Eghrari & Associates, PLLC will assist with this process.
Getting Help from Long Island Medicaid Attorneys
Long Island Medicaid attorneys at Mark S. Eghrari & Associates, PLLC will work closely with you to determine if you need to make a Medicaid plan and to get your plans in place if you do. We understand how important it is for you to protect your nest egg and leave a legacy while getting the care that you need as a senior. We can work with you to make an advanced Medicaid plan long before you need care to protect the maximum value of assets or to respond in a crisis situation where you need Medicaid right away and want to protect as many of your assets as possible.
To find out more about how our compassionate and knowledgeable legal team can help you, join us for a free seminar. You can also give us a call at (631) 265-0599 or contact us online at any time.
Mark S. Eghrari, Estate Planning Attorney
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